Examine the structure of the book, particularly how Macfarlane weaves together personal narrative, environmental science, Indigenous history, and legal analysis. How does this multi-layered approach serve his larger argument?

How does Macfarlane use sensory details and embodied experience to convey each river’s agency? Analyze specific passages where physical sensation becomes a form of knowledge.

Discuss the role of silence and the ineffable in the book. How does Macfarlane handle moments when language fails to capture his experience with the river?

Examine the concept of “Rights of Nature” within the broader context of environmental law. How might recognizing rivers as legal persons change environmental protection strategies globally?

How does the book address the relationship between climate change and Indigenous sovereignty? Analyze how environmental threats intersect with cultural preservation efforts.

Discuss the role of corporate power in environmental decision-making. How does Macfarlane critique the intersection of capitalism and environmental destruction?

Analyze Macfarlane’s suggestion that the river functions as a “god.” How does this theological framing challenge secular approaches to environmentalism and what are its implications for environmental ethics?

Examine the concept of “growing-together” with the river that Macfarlane describes. How does this idea of interspecies communion challenge Western notions of individual identity and agency?